{"id":739082,"date":"2026-07-02T14:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T14:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/739082\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T14:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T14:39:09","slug":"liberty-host-league-leading-lynx-at-barclays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/739082\/","title":{"rendered":"Liberty host league-leading Lynx at Barclays"},"content":{"rendered":"

They handed out hats and t-shirts, hoisted the Commissioner\u2019s Cup trophy for all of Barclays Center to see and posed together as the only two-time champions of the WNBA\u2019s in-season tournament.<\/p>\n

And to think, none of it counted toward the New York Liberty\u2019s ultimate quest this season: capturing their second league title in three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we have bigger goals this season,\u201d Liberty coach Chris DeMarco insisted after New York\u2019s 93-85 win over Las Vegas on Tuesday night. \u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to win a WNBA championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

While outlasting the Aces may have put more hardware in the Liberty\u2019s trophy case, the game itself didn\u2019t count in the standings.<\/p>\n

New York returns to the reality of the regular season on Friday night, when it hosts the league-leading Minnesota Lynx (15-4), who boast a 9-1 road mark and have only lost twice since the middle of May.<\/p>\n

The Liberty (12-8) had dropped four of their previous five before Tuesday\u2019s stirring triumph, and were coming off a 1-3 road trip that saw them drop the final two lengths of their West Coast sojourn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it kind of sets the foundation for who we are,\u201d Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu noted after pouring in a team-high 26 points against the Aces, including the dagger 3-pointer in the final seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd how we want to compete every single night.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

New York did run off a season-high eight wins in a row before its recent malaise, finishing off a perfect run through the Commissioner\u2019s Cup slate before a disappointing home loss to Washington and a heartbreaking defeat at the buzzer in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The Liberty rebounded to take out the Aces in Vegas last week before Seattle and Golden State beat them soundly.<\/p>\n

Outlasting the owners of three of the last four WNBA titles should hearten DeMarco\u2019s star-studded unit, but the Lynx have been off since Sunday after cruising past Dallas 85-77.<\/p>\n

And they\u2019ve risen to the top of the standings without their best player, superstar forward Napheesa Collier.<\/p>\n

She nearly helped the Lynx spoil the Liberty\u2019s 2024 championship run before New York\u2019s decisive Game 5 overtime win at Barclays in the Finals.<\/p>\n

The five-time All-Star hasn\u2019t logged a single minute this year after undergoing sugaries on both ankles.<\/p>\n

She did return to practice this week and could soon rejoin a team that is flourishing behind rookie sensation Olivia Miles and former New York forward Natasha Howard.<\/p>\n

\"MinnesotaThe Liberty will have to deal with veteran forward Natasha Howard and rookie guard Olivia Miles in Brooklyn on Friday. Photo: Abbie Parr\/AP<\/p>\n

But it won\u2019t be Friday night in Brooklyn, where the Liberty also averted going against three-time MVP A\u2019ja Wilson in the Cup final due to a bad ankle.<\/p>\n

Howard and Miles both put up 21 points in Dallas. Howard also hauled down 14 rebounds while the No. 2 overall pick out of Texas Christian handed out eight assists.<\/p>\n

Minnesota will also be chasing history for coach Cheryl Reeve, who tied Mike Thibault for first place on the league\u2019s all-time coaching wins list in Dallas at 379.<\/p>\n

All the Liberty want is a chance to re-establish themselves as the team Vegas oddsmakers picked to be the team to beat in the WNBA this year.<\/p>\n

Despite her team\u2019s roller-coaster ride thus far, Commissioner\u2019s Cup MVP Breanna Stewart believes New York is ready for the challenge of the rest of the regular-season schedule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my 10th year in the league, so I\u2019ve been through a lot,\u201d she said. \u201cThis team is willing to work. \u2026 This is a great moment for us to continue to celebrate. We get one day off and we\u2019ll be back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

The game will air exclusively on ION TV.<\/p>\n

\"JuneNow that celebrating their second Cup crown is over, the Liberty will try to snap a two-game regular-season skid vs. Minnesota on Friday. Photo: Brandon Todd\/New York Liberty<\/p>\n

GIVE ME LIBERTY: The 34-year-old Howard played two seasons with the Liberty from 2021-22, their first two campaigns in Brooklyn. With Collier out, she is averaging 17.6 points and a team-best 8.2 rebounds per game this year. \u2026 Stewart became the first two-time MVP in Cup history and is the only player to win three titles since the in-season tourney began in 2021, when she was with Seattle. \u2026 After hosting the Lynx, the Liberty will close out this homestand Tuesday night vs. Dallas before embarking on a four-game road trip, which tips off with a visit to Minnesota on July 11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They handed out hats and t-shirts, hoisted the Commissioner\u2019s Cup trophy for all of Barclays Center to see…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739083,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[4889,402,13970,120270,99,434,206696],"class_list":["post-739082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-barclays-center","tag-basketball","tag-liberty","tag-no-paywall","tag-sports","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-womens-national-basketball-association"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739082\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739083"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}